Deirdre Macnab was ready to bring her bold version of advocacy to the national League of Women Voters.

But the national league wasn't ready for Macnab.

Macnab, president of the Florida league since 2009, ran to become the league's national president last week.

She lost by a landslide.

The national league's current president, Elisabeth MacNamara, won another term.

Here in Florida, Macnab is recognized for transforming the league from what people might view as a group of retired English teachers and librarians collecting voter registration cards into a respected force on the state's political landscape.

Nationally, though, the teachers and librarians still have control.

"It's not diverse enough," Macnab said of the national league. "We have to do and will do a better job. In Florida, we've really put an emphasis on the belief that diversity is the strength of the organization — not just generational or racial diversity, it's perspective. We welcome a variety of political perspectives."

The league is non-partisan and never endorses candidates or parties, but does take positions on issues.

Macnab, for example, has helped lead the charge for Fair Districts, an effort to rid Florida of rigged voting districts drawn to favor one party.

The league succeeded in getting that amendment on the ballot in 2010 and voters overwhelmingly approved it.

Now she's turned her focus to pushing Florida to accept Medicaid expansion dollars that would bring health care to the working poor and urging the state to require that more of its energy comes from renewable sources such as solar.

Those are often seen as left-leaning causes. And she's heard plenty of criticism that the league is non-partisan on paper only.

But Macnab says strong advocacy is simply a return to the roots of the league, which was born out of the suffrage movement.

"They really had much more insulting and scary things to say about the league back then," she said. "People really thought it was the downfall of civilization with women getting the right to vote."

She points out that a range of political perspectives are welcome at the league and she's recently pushed to start more chapters in rural Florida, where voters tend to be more conservative.

Last year, for example, Citrus County, with a population of less than 140,000, brought back a chapter that had been disbanded.

The league also has decided not to take a position on Amendment 2, a measure to legalize medical marijuana in Florida that is largely seen as a Democratic issue.

And Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Association's leading voice in Florida, spoke at a recent league meeting.

Macnab likes to say that accusations of partisanship are what people turn to when they run out of facts to support their arguments.

"We've been working on Fair Districts since 1947 when the Democrats were in charge, and now the Republicans are in charge," she said.

Perhaps most important, though, is the response the league has gotten from Florida voters. Membership has increased substantially in the state league even as voters drop their political party affiliations.

Florida membership has jumped about 30 percent in recent years.

Nationally, though, league membership has been stagnant at best, and has dropped significantly in some regions.

"Numbers are the most important thing," Macnab told the league convention in Dallas last week, according to an account by local league members. "We have had declining membership during the last eight years while the incumbent has been on the board .... The League has to double its strength and represent the face of this country."

But the national delegates just weren't ready.

For now, Macnab will continue to serve as president of the Florida league until her term is up next year.

Then she will weigh her options.

She may consider another run at national league office. Or a run for public office. Or something else entirely.